Rewad was curious why Rafin had been called to see the Treasurer. While he waited, he decided to clean the room.
They swept and wiped it every other day, yet somehow dust came off on the rag every single time he wiped something, enough to irritate even someone as diligent as Rewad.
Rewad finished cleaning and sat in a chair to rest. By anyone's standard, the room was spotless now.
The door opened and Rafin came in, holding a leather pouch in one hand.
"Rafin, you're back. But what's that in your hand?"
Rafin pulled a bundle of belongings out from under his bed and put the leather pouch inside it. The pouch jingled.
"It's what I got as prize money for winning the tournament."
Rafin sat in the chair across from Rewad.
"Gold coins really do jingle differently."
"Different how? It's all in your head. I thought I'd get the prize money right after the tournament, but nobody said a word one way or the other. I didn't think House Rosrad would pocket my prize money, but I pushed a little."
"So you asked the Treasurer for it directly?"
"No, I told the Knight Commander."
"Really? You actually said something like that to the Knight Commander!"
"Why are you so surprised? I only asked for money I was owed."
"Well, that's true, but...."
"Even if we're powerless squires, we have to say what needs saying. If you keep quiet, you don't even get what you rightly deserve."
"Oh, sure. Must be nice to be so bold. But I hear the prize money was 50 gold coins. What are you going to do with all that money?"
Rewad nodded toward the space under Rafin's bed as he spoke.
"I've decided to give a share to the teacher who's taught me since I was little."
"Then after you take out his share, what about the rest?"
"Why are you grilling me like this? Is there something you want?"
Rewad grinned.
"Sure there's something I want... I'd like a dagger. You going to buy me one?"
"Haha. I never said I'd buy you anything. I just asked if there was something you wanted."
"Honestly. You're making fun of me. Ugh, I cleaned so hard I'm hungry. I cleaned your share too, so you don't have any cleaning today."
Rewad got up and went down to the 1st floor to eat.
"Hey. Wait for me."
Rafin got up and followed him.
***
Rafin learned from Rewad all kinds of skills for attending a knight. Things like how to mend the padding and fittings inside armor with sewing tools, how to remove rust from armor with a sand barrel, and how to hone the sharp parts of armor with a whetstone.
Rewad was as good with his hands as he was meticulous by nature. Rafin wasn't as good as Rewad, but his skills were steadily improving.
It was a day when Rafin had been thinking about putting together the gold coins to send to Master Ivan at Winstio Castle. After finishing his duties, he put 10 gold coins into a leather pouch he had prepared.
There was a knock at the door, and a servant came in.
"A letter has come for you, Lord Rafin."
The moment he heard that a letter had come, Rafin realized with a start what he had forgotten. He thought of Mera Sirasi, whom he had met at the tournament's victory banquet. He was supposed to send her letters, but he had been so busy adjusting to life as a squire that he hadn't written any.
Rafin looked at the writing on the envelope.
'Vilhe Valone'
It was a letter from his father. That was unexpected.
'To my beloved son, Rafin.
The Valone castle is just as it always was. Even after you left, the walls look ready to crumble at any moment, and the horses in the stable cry for more feed. The place where you used to be is still empty.
I always worry a great deal, but the news that you are getting along safely at the Rosrad castle lets me breathe a little easier. Serving as a squire with knighthood as your goal cannot be easy at your age, but I trust you are holding up well.
However, I fear I must give you troubling news. This year's harvest is dismal. The yield is only half, and many livestock froze to death in last winter's bitter cold.
The tribute we owe the Grand Duke must be met without fail, so we must make up the shortfall from somewhere. As you well know, we are a house that has survived by pledging loyalty to House Rosrad. At times like these, all the more, we must fulfill our duty without blemish.
If there is anything at all you can do about this at Barad Castle, however small, let your father know. Of course, I do not mean to put you in a difficult position. It is only that writing letters like this is all I can do right now, and that is what frustrates me.
And I hear rumors here and there about your younger sister, Aerin. Are there people at Barad Castle who talk about the girl as well?
There is no denying that the girl must play her part as a woman for the future of our house, so I have much to think over myself.
Rafin, take heart. You are the pride of Valone. I wish only for your safety.
Your father, Vilhe Valone'
Rafin folded the letter and put it in the storage box under his bed.
Rafin had originally intended to send only 10 gold coins to his master and keep the remaining 40 as emergency money. As emergency money, 40 gold coins was a large sum, but his father had sent him a letter like this, and it wasn't something he could ignore.
For House Valone to survive, his father couldn't marry his daughter off to just anyone either.
Rafin gripped the leather pouch tight. In it were 49 gold coins. If he sent these, Rafin would be left with only a single coin.
Rafin picked up a quill pen.
'To Father.
I received your letter. Reading your writing after so long brings the Valone castle to mind. The memories of running around beneath the walls, and the times I tended the horses in the stable. It has not been long since I left, and yet I already miss it.
I know you must be very worried. I also know well how hard it is to meet the tribute.
So I wish to add what little strength I can. Of the fifty gold coins I received as prize money for winning the tournament, I am keeping only one and have sent the remaining forty-nine to Winstio Castle.
I hope they are used where the house truly needs them. Also, some of the gold coins must be given to my teacher, Ivan.
I received a great deal of instruction from him, so I wish to do what is right by him, as far as I can.
Father, do not worry about me. I am fulfilling the duties given to me at Barad Castle. I am faithfully doing what a squire must do and working to earn the trust of the knights here and the other vassals.
I will serve well as a squire and will certainly become a knight. And as a knight, I will certainly win distinction. I will press on toward that path quietly and steadily.
As I am still only a squire at Barad Castle, it is hard for me to actively look for a man suited to Aerin.
Aerin is only 10 now; are you not rushing the marriage talks too much, Father? If a suitable person appears, I will tell you.
Please stay in good health. Once the cold is over, there will be more game, so by then the castle's storehouses should be a little better off. I hope you take care of yourself as well, Father.
Respectfully, Rafin Valone.'
Rafin put 9 of the 10 gold coins he had taken out back into the leather pouch he had received from the Treasurer.
The next day, he asked a servant to send the letter and the leather pouch to Winstio Castle. He decided to write the letter to Mera next time he had a moment.
Rafin had nothing to spend money on inside Barad Castle. They fed him, housed him, and even gave him a small allowance. As long as he didn't go outside the castle drinking and squandering it, he would never be short of money.
A single gold coin was more than enough to buy a dagger. He meant to buy one the next time he went out. Rewad had taught him a great many of the skills and much of the information needed for squire life.
Teaching a junior squire was a senior squire's duty, but he felt he ought to repay him for the trouble.
Thinking back on his past life, he knew that a bond built from the heart over a long time didn't easily crumble. Rewad wouldn't stay a squire forever either.
Rewad wasn't physically outstanding, but he was diligent and had a strong sense of responsibility at heart, so the knights seemed to rate him fairly well in their way.
Rafin went out and bought a dagger at a smithy in Unton's market. One morning, Rafin handed the dagger to Rewad as if it were nothing.
"Rafin, what's this?"
"Picked it up on the way here."
"You dope. Thanks. A servant told me you sent the prize money from the tournament home."
Rafin was tying his shoelaces.
"There are no secrets here, huh."
"Everybody knows that much. Anyway, thanks. I don't have the means to help my own house. So all I can do is sit tight like this, but... Your father must be pleased."
"If only my father hadn't sent that letter. I was going to live a little comfortably on the prize money. Tsk."
Rafin and Rewad got dressed and came out of the room.
"Now that I look at you, your words and actions don't match. Last time you told me to just say what I wanted, like you weren't going to buy me a dagger, and in the end you bought it. You said you'd spend the prize money living it up all by yourself, and in the end you sent it home."
"Now that you say it, you're right. It just turned out that way."
The two ate breakfast and went to the workshop to check the equipment of the knights they each served.
Having learned how to look after equipment from Rewad, Rafin was working fairly skillfully.
Among the vassals of Barad Castle, Rafin wanted to know more about the mage Stormmond. As a squire, he couldn't possibly build a direct acquaintance with Stormmond. Rewad was a senior squire, so it seemed likely he would know something about Stormmond.
In his past life, there had been a time when a mage played a decisive role in turning around a losing battle. A mage with great magical power was reassuring to have on your side, but truly not someone you wanted to face as an enemy.
He had heard from Mera that Stormmond had used some kind of forbidden magic, and that made him all the more curious.
Rafin put the Knight Commander's armor plate into the sand barrel. When he sprinkled sand on the rusted corners of the plate and rubbed gently with his hand, the rust came away bit by bit with the sand.
Rewad was watching Rafin from beside him.
"Mm. You're doing well. It's important to rub the sand gently. If you scrub hard, you'll scratch the equipment all over."
"I'm doing it just as you taught me. Don't worry. Say, do you know anything about Lord Stormmond?"
"You're removing rust from armor plate and suddenly you're talking about a mage?"
"Mages seem kind of mysterious, you know. I was just asking out of curiosity."
Rewad stopped mending the torn quilted lining and put his needle and thread down on the table.
"They say he wasn't originally from around here. I hear he's from Himister, the capital, far to the south."
"Ah. I see."
Rafin already knew this, having heard it from Mera.
"In his youth he trained in magic at the Mage Tower in Himister, and since he's old, he has plenty of experience too, so his magical power must be tremendous."
"Have you ever talked with Lord Stormmond yourself?"
"Once he asked to have a cloak mended. I'm the best at mending of all the squires, after all! I talked with him back then, when I mended the cloak and brought it to him."
"What was he like to talk to?"